Artist's Statement - The Dining Table Series 2008

Table of Celebration

Table of Time

Table of Power

Table of Contemplation

This series of paintings focuses on the Centrepiece of the Dining Table. The Dining Table is a location for shared social experience where people regularly gather, dine and talk about significant issues in life. It is place where views are established and power structures are entrenched and may be considered to be at the very heart of our lives and a microcosm of Society. The Centerpiece (Epergne) is used as a versatile serving dish for the Dining Table. It may be either functional or decorative, made in numerous designs and also used as a symbol of wealth and prestige.In these Paintings: The Centerpiece is transposed from its historical origins to a conceptual level where the diners at the Dining Table are faced with societal, humanitarian or philosophical issues as presented by the individual Centrepiece. The viewer looking from above sees the Centrepiece, with the Dining Table as a backdrop. The table cloth has a diagonal pattern with some evidence of dining (plates, cutlery, and glasses) but the main imagery is associated with the Centerpiece which reflects the thoughts, aspirations and ambitions of one or more of the people who may be gathered around the Dining Table.

The Table of Celebration The imagery of this Centrepiece is based on contemporary sculptures and hot air balloons in figurative forms. This painting is a lighthearted look at celebration and escape from the mundanity of the Dining Table and the regimentation imposed by the social mores of society.

The Dining Table is set up for partying.

Our figures could be either be celebrating or rebelling from the constraints of the Centerpiece.

However, all are tethered to each other by the reality of life at the Dining Table.

The Table of Time. The imagery of this Centrepiece is associated with the effects of the passage of time on the Dining Table (which represents a microcosm of society). The Centrepiece (serving dish) on the table cloth is shown as a clock face with a meditative figure at the centre of time. Viewing from top left to bottom right on the painting, the Centrepiece symbolizing the ordered nature of society, is shown breaking down as is the very table cloth on which it is set.

The flower symbolizes the blossoming of youth falling to the destruction of time.

The clock face of the Centrepiece is disintegrating with time as the clock’s mechanism is revealed and numbers are disrupted.

The contemplative figure at the centre of time is an observer to life’s events and passive to the ravages of time.

The table cloth is disintegrating under the Centrepiece.

The Table of Power The imagery of this Centrepiece is based on classical figurative sculpture. Interpretations can range from the eternal struggles of humanity within a societal structure such as the battle between good and evil, the strong and the weak or the relative power relationships within the family structure. In the painting one could also consider that:

The ‘monster’ may have some ‘human’ qualities and the warrior male may have some ‘monster’ qualities.

The child caught between the two protagonists is the vulnerable innocent?

Fighting occurs in one part of the table (the Centrepiece) whilst the rest of the Dining Table (life) continues on as always.

The Table of Contemplation The imagery of this Centrepiece is based on classical figurative sculpture and poses. The imagery reflects contemplation on the meaning of life. What is and what might have been. In the painting the three figures represent views on the past, present and future of humanity. The two figures as a Centerpiece are part of the full world (the Dining Table) and yet isolated from that world as they are immersed in their own thoughts, actions and ambitions. They may consider: